Lenswood young tree growth trial – 2017 update

August 2017 | Paul James | Future Orchards® trial interim report

This 2017 interim report from the Lenswood Young Tree Growth trial records the early performance of Aztec Fuji on M26 trained in six different ways. The Adelaide Hills trial was established to understand how training choices influence growth in an orchard intended for netting.

Trees were planted in 2014 at 3.5 x 1 metre spacing, or 2,857 trees per hectare. Treatments included planting trees as received from the nursery, removing side limbs without heading, and removing side limbs followed by heading at 900 mm, with variations in subsequent training.

The early management objective was to maximise tree height and canopy development because rapid vertical and lateral fill is important to commercial performance in a netted orchard. Growth and structural measurements were collected as the treatments developed.

The report notes that 2017 was expected to deliver the first crop, although bird damage affected the harvest before the net was in place. It provides an early benchmark for the longer-running Lenswood trial.